Let's read out of Matthew, chapter 12.
We read from verse, is it 24?
Sorry, it's Matthew 18, verse 21.
Verse 22, Jesus said to him, I do
not say to you up to seven times,
but up to seventy times seven.
Therefore the kingdom of heaven is like a
certain king who wanted to settle accounts with
his servants.
And then when he began to settle accounts,
one was brought before him who owed him
ten thousand talents.
But he was not able to pay his
master.
But as he was not able to pay
his master, he commanded that he be sold
with his wife and children, and that all
that he had in his payment be made.
The servant therefore fell down before him, saying,
Master, have patience with me, and I will
pay you all.
Then the master of that servant was moved
with compassion, released him, and forgave him the
debt.
But that servant went out and found one
of his fellow servants who owed him a
hundred denarii, and he laid hands on him,
took him by the throat, saying, Pay me
what you owe.
So his fellow servant fell down at his
feet and begged him, saying, Have patience with
me, and I will pay you all.
And he would not, but went and threw
him into prison till he should pay the
debt.
So when his fellow servants saw what had
been done, they were very grieved, and they
came and told their master all that had
been done.
Then his master, after he had called him,
said to him, You wicked servant, I forgave
you all that debt because you begged me.
Should you not also have had compassion on
your fellow servant, just as I had pity
on you?
And his master was very angry, delivered him
to the torturers until he should pay all
that was due to him.
So my Heavenly Father also will do to
you, if each of you from his heart
does not forgive his brother his trespasses.
May we have been sitting for a long
time, we can stand up and pray together.
Lord, creator of heaven and earth, you who
died for us on Golgotha, may
you
send your Holy Spirit, that he might bring
life to your word, that it might change
our lives.
So that all might be new.
Amen.
Now Peter was a very rough man, who
just did things out of the spur of
the moment.
And he was often the first person that
would get up and do something.
And here he comes to the Lord Jesus
and said, Lord, how much or how often
should I forgive my brother?
Seven times.
And then he said, no Peter, not seven
times.
And he spoke a hard word and he
said, seventy times seven.
In other words, four hundred and ninety times.
There was a young boy that was very
intelligent.
And he heard certain preachers speaking about this.
And then he said, must I always forgive
right to the end?
But God's word says, no, seven times seventy.
In other words, four hundred and ninety times.
And then the young boy said, well, in
other words, there is an end.
And at the end of four hundred and
ninety times, then that's the end.
There's no more forgiving and then I will
have a grudge against that person.
And then
the
young boy said, well, I'm going to take
a writing pad and then I'm going to
start noting down every time I forgive him.
First time, second time and third time.
And every time I write it down.
And the preacher wasn't a fool.
He said, well, look, young boy, let me
tell you something.
When you start forgiving that person quite a
lot of times, then you get used to
it.
And the more you forgive him, the more
you will get used to forgiving him.
And then he says, well, when you get
to four hundred and ninety, well, then you
will be so used to it, you'll just
carry on forgiving that man.
And then the Lord said, well, there's a
parable of a certain king who wanted to
settle his accounts with his servants.
Now we can maybe liken the kingdom of
God to his church, which he rules here
on earth.
His servants, that are we.
And the king is Christ himself, Jesus.
And then the Lord Jesus said, look, I
will use this parable as an example to
you.
And he said, well, I liken the kingdom
of heaven to a king who wanted to
settle his accounts with his servants, with his
people.
Now we must note that at all times
Jesus notes and he writes down everything that
we do.
Even if you got angry, or you had
a crutch, or
you were stiff necked, but the Lord on
judgment day will open up his books where
everything is written.
And all will be written and you will
be given according to your works that you
done here on earth.
And the first servant came.
He owed the king a great deal.
And he owed the king 10,000 talents.
Now I'll explain to you how much worth
this was, these 10,000 talents, because we
don't understand it.
But I'll tell you what it means in
range and sense.
And so the servant came.
And the king said, because of your great
debt, you couldn't pay.
Now in the olden times it was done
this way.
And the Lord said to him, well, the
king said, well, we'll sell you and we'll
sell your wife.
And also your children.
And all your, what you have, what you
owe will be sold so that we can
pay this debt.
The servant, when he heard this, he fell
down before the king.
And he honored the king.
He says, oh, be patient with me.
I will pay all my debt.
And the king had compassion.
And when the king saw the servant and
his broken heart, he felt sorry for him.
And he says, I will forgive all your
debt.
Nothing will be left.
And the servant was in a different world.
He was a different man when he heard
that all his debt, everything was put aside.
Friends, to be forgiven isn't something small.
It is something great.
And when he forgives us your sin, he
washes it away.
He cleanses it with his blood, which comes
from God and not man.
And the servant was full of joy when
he felt this burden being lifted from him.
And this servant humbled himself and threw himself
prostrate before the king.
Listen, you who want your sins to be
forgiven.
You have to come and humble yourself before
the Lord.
And so he threw himself down before the
king.
And so with you, you have to come
to the Lord.
You have to throw yourself before Him.
Humble yourself and cry that He might forgive
you your sins.
And he said, O my king, just O
God, just be patient with me.
I will pay everything.
And the king had great compassion on this
man.
What can you say about that compassion of
our Lord?
And he said, O my king, just O
God, just be patient with me.
I will pay everything.
And when the Lord saw the great crowd,
he had great compassion on them.
He had great feeling for them.
In Greek it says, even his intestines inside
were turned upside down.
In other words, there was something in him
from inside that he felt for these people.
And he said, even if they are red,
I'll wash them and they will become as
white as snow.
Close to Mshali, down at the coast, there
was a certain farmer from France.
He was French speaking and was a farmer
from Mauritius.
He was farming there also.
And then war broke out in that place
and they chased away all the white men.
The white people.
And then he left there and he came
here to Mshali.
And this man was a hard working farmer.
He bought a little farm and he worked
on it.
He made some money, but that he put
away.
He didn't go out and buy coke and
went to the tuck shop and buy something
to eat.
No.
He saved the money up.
With that money, he bought another piece of
land.
At the end of the day, this man
became very, very rich.
And he had wonderful flowers.
Beautiful flowers.
And then during that time, when I used
to get visitors here, maybe a magistrate, whoever
it was, a VIP person, I would say,
come, I want to show you beautiful flowers
and I will take them to this man.
I would say, come, I want to show
you beautiful flowers and I will take them
to this man.
Now, you
know the custom of the white man.
You can't just rock up at his place.
You've got to make an appointment.
Phone up and tell him, listen, I'm going
to come.
I'm going to visit you.
I'm going to bring so and so, because
they can be very stingy.
I know people, if you don't say that
you're coming, they won't even give you food
to eat.
I experienced that where I visited a certain
family and we set a table and then
visitors came unannounced and they had to sit
on the sideline watching while we're eating.
So I tried to phone this man and
I tried again and I couldn't get a
hold of him.
And then I said, look, friends, let's just
go and pay him a visit.
So we went there.
And so I just went and came to
his place and I found him standing in
front of his house.
So when I stopped, I quickly just ran
to him, to Mr. Deshamoy.
And I said, sir, please just forgive me.
I tried to get a hold of you,
but I wanted just to bring some people.
What?
Oh, don't mind.
Don't mind, Mr. Stiggin.
I'm always happy when people come, when they
come to me.
If I'm not happy when they come, then
I'm happy when they go.
But there's always happiness when I see people.
So he welcomed us very well.
One day there was a big meeting.
And then one day these farmers in that
area had a meeting and they wanted either
tea or coffee.
They wanted to plant those plantations.
And so the farmers had a meeting and
then it was said, well, that and that
company, they will come and help us.
And this Mr. Deshamoy stood up and said,
well, people, if those people come, I won't
accept them because those very people once treated
him badly.
And he says, well, I've forgiven them, but
I haven't forgotten.
He said that company didn't want to help
them, but wanted to plant that as well.
And he said, no.
He says, I forgive, but I can't forget
what they've done.
And that isn't a godly forgiveness.
When God forgives, he forgets.
And not only that he forgets, but throws
it into the deepest depths of the ocean.
And then God will never remember that thing
anymore.
Even if you would say, but God, you
know, he did this and he did that.
God says, I don't know.
I don't remember that.
And God means what he says.
To be forgiven as something wonderful.
It means a burden has been lifted.
And this servant, he should have been sold
his wife, his children.
At the end of the day, he would
have been a slave, but he was forgiven
everything.
And the Lord saw, the King saw the
brokenness of this man.
And then he said, well, I'll forgive you
everything because of his heart.
And so with you, if you come to
Christ, your heart's got to be broken and
you've got to see the wrong you did.
How can you ask for forgiveness if you
don't know what you've done?
And he said, well, not that only that
I will be forgiven, but I will pay
everything, all of my debt.
I will settle it.
And he was forgiven 10,000 talents.
But when he left the King, he met
up with another man.
And then this man who was forgiven 10
,000 talents came to this other man who
owed him 100 denarii.
Now, one talent was worth a thousand denarii.
A denarii was that worth of money a
person was paid wages for a day.
Now, this man, one man owed the other
who was forgiven 10,000.
He owed him 100 denarii.
Now, 100 denarii, one talent is a thousand
denarii.
In other words, this man who was forgiven
10,000 talents, that was actually worth 10
million denarii.
And so this man who was forgiven so
much, met this other man who owed him
so little and he grabbed him by the
throat and said, well, you must pay your
debt.
And this didn't go well down with the
other servants when they saw how he treated
this person who owed him so little.
So the servants ran to the King and
they told the King, the whole story about
this man who was forgiven 10 million and
now he grabs hold of this man who
only owed him 100.
And the King said, you bring that man
again.
And he said, what is this that I
hear of you?
10 million.
And he says, you who owed me 10
million, you can't even forgive a person who
owes you only 100.
And then the Lord, the King then said,
look, I am recalling all your debt again.
You owe me 10 million.
He was forgiven, but his whole debt, his
whole burden was placed on him once again.
And the King said, you put him into
jail.
And he said, you put him into prison
till he pays the last farthing.
And how can you pay something off when
you are in jail?
It's impossible.
In other words, for all eternity, this man
would have been in jail.
Now this, everybody should be wide awake because
this is directed at you personally.
Now you can say, well, what does this
all mean?
When you got converted, you can ask for
forgiveness and all your sins were forgiven.
And you were happy, full of joy.
Now along your way, after some time, you
meet up with somebody, maybe somebody who said
something about you, said something, made comments about
your life.
And now you've heard that and you have
a crutch in your heart concerning that.
Now it hurts you and you are grieved
and you've got a crutch in your heart
and you have forgotten what those sins that
Christ forgave you right in the beginning, when
you came to Him, they were as the
sand on the seashore.
That was the amount of your sins.
Now here is somebody that says something, makes
comments and it hurts you.
And you can't forgive that person.
You can't forget it.
God says, I am the Lord Jehovah, your
God.
Don't serve any other gods.
And it says, love Him with all your
heart, with all your strength within and with
all your soul.
Now then along your way, maybe you start
serving other gods.
You love other things more than you love
God.
And those are the millions that you owe
God.
We can mention so many different things, swearing,
gossiping and so many other things that we
do.
And then you forget all this.
Now you think of all those things that
God has forgiven you and here comes this
man, he says something, he does maybe something
to you and you keep it.
It hurts you.
You keep it in your heart.
You can't get rid of it.
You can't put it aside.
And you hold this thing against that man.
In the meantime, you've forgotten what God has
done for you.
And now then there's somebody who comes along,
he says something, he does something to you
and you can't forget.
You can't forgive what this person has done
and said about you.
Not that he was hurting you.
No, he did something against you.
There's a difference between a kiss and a
kick.
A kick is completely different from a kiss.
Where you say, well, he doesn't treat me
well now.
He's actually, in actual fact, he's kicking me.
Now the Lord says, no, you forgive that
person.
Forgive it.
And Peter says, Lord, what, seven times?
The Lord says, no, Peter, 70 times seven.
And now he grabbed him by the throat
and he told him he must pay.
Now, it could be that you don't grab
somebody literally by the throat, but your sharp,
razor words, they're the ones that grab the
whole of that person.
They throttle that person.
Because you can kill a person with a
gun.
You can kill a person with sticks.
But there is such a thing that you
can kill him with the words you speak.
Now, in the Lord's prayer, it says that
forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those
that have sinned against us.
God will forgive you the way you forgive
others.
And so maybe somebody comes and wants to
ask for forgiveness.
You just turn around and you don't want
anything to do with that person.
You don't even speak to him.
He doesn't want to hear anything of what
he says to you.
Now you remember, God says, the way you
forgive others, that's the way I will forgive
you.
Now, you've been forgiven much.
Now somebody comes and he owes you something.
He's done something to you and you don't
want to forgive him.
And then God says, and these are hard,
hard, difficult words.
He says, well all that I have forgiven
you, all those trespasses that you have done,
I'm once again, I'm going to bring them
upon your life.
And your Christianity, your life of faith will
come to an end.
I'm forgiven.
I'm saved forever.
But the moment you don't forgive, your salvation
is gone and all your guilt is back
upon you unless he's a liar.
But if you say something else, you're the
liar.
So these are sharp, hard words which the
Lord Jesus has spoken.
That's if he's not the liar because he
says, I will bring all those things again
upon you which I have forgiven you.
And so, test your life.
See if there's something in your life where
you've got maybe unforgiveness and maybe where you've
been holding a grudge because if you don't
forgive, God will bring all these things onto
you once again and then you will end
up in hell and there you will spend
eternity.
You'll never be able to pay it again.
Isabel Kuhn wrote many books.
Many people were blessed by her.
She and her husband were missionaries in China.
And so both learnt the Chinese language and
they could converse and preach in it.
And then one day, Isabel Kuhn's husband invited
a certain missionary.
He was invited.
Oh, he was invited.
Sorry, he was invited by this certain man.
By a certain missionary to preach in his
congregation.
And when he had finished preaching, the preacher,
the minister of that congregation came to him
and said, brother, your whole sermon didn't mean
a thing to me.
I must agree.
You're a master of the language.
You spoke very well, very, very well.
Your Chinese is fantastic.
But I didn't get anything out of it.
Where is the fire that was burning in
your heart at the beginning?
Where is that power that was there?
Your sermon were empty words to me.
Now there is such a thing that it
goes with time.
You lose that which you had where you
maybe were forgiven and now you don't forgive
anymore.
So they went home.
What this missionary said to this couple actually
bowled them over.
And they said, but Lord, what is it?
Oh, it's a baby.
I want you to forgive me.
And I asked for forgiveness.
Because in many instances, many, many times, I
criticized the way you did and how things
were done.
And that was what I did about you.
And then the man, the same, says, oh,
my wife, I've got the same mistakes.
I've done the same things.
And they repented of their criticizing the way
they spoke.
And then God, once again, he could work.
I did never realize, I didn't know, that
behind the back criticism is such a serious
sin.
It's deadly.
It kills you.
If you criticize a person behind his back,
it kills you.
You are dead.
D-E-A-D.
Finish.
Now, to criticize a person is a sin
above every other sin.
To speak about somebody behind his back, instead
of going to that person.
No, that you will never do.
And speak to him personally.
No, but you go behind his back.
Do you hear that, Christian?
So, do you hear that, Christian?
Mother, you people that are married, to criticize
somebody, you kill that person.
Each other.
You kill each other.
To criticize your husband, you needn't even go
far.
Heart is full of criticism against your husband.
Or vice versa.
Or somebody else.
That kills.
Person dies.
In your faith, you are dead.
You are just right for hell.
So, from now, from this
instance, you forgive the other person.
Because God will forgive you the way you
forgive somebody else.
So, when you leave the church, this is
the time we say, but Lord, from now,
from this instance, I'm going to forgive that
person.
Let's bow our head and pray.
Work, O Lord, that the seed that you
have sown might end up in fertile ground,
deep ground, where the seed will grow and
bear lots of fruit.
And Lord, because it would be very bad
if this seed falls on hard ground, where
the birds of the air come and eat
it up.
Now we ask you, Lord, that your grace
might be with us all.
And also your love.
And the fellowship of the Holy Spirit.
And especially upon the family of Commissioner Ngiti.
And all those that are here.
Amen.